From the moment Jose Mourinho walked through the door at Old Trafford, there was an assumption that Juan Mata would be heading out of it.
It seemed a fair belief. After all, the Portuguese manager had deemed Mata surplus to requirements at Chelsea despite two and a half seasons in which he established himself as one of the most talented midfielders in the top flight.
As if more evidence were needed, Mourinho dragged the Spain international off in Manchester United's Community Shield win only 30 minutes after sending him on as a substitute.
The writing seemed to be on the wall for Mata. The arrival of Henrikh Mkhitaryan exacerbated the situation further, and it seemed that with the sheer number of attacking midfielders in the squad, Mourinho would again choose to move Mata on.
Mourinho's public statements suggested otherwise, but again there seemed to be a form of mind games at play.
That has not been the case, and on Saturday the 28-year-old demonstrated the value he could bring to Mourinho's side against Leicester.
It's easy to forget that when the manager moved Mata on at Chelsea, he had won the club's Player of the Year award for two seasons running.
Mata excelled as a No 10, playing behind a traditional target man. He was the creative hub of a team that was struggling to find a style after Carlo Ancelotti's spell in charge.
No comments:
Post a Comment